Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Tony takes a leave of absence from his job once again in order to help out someone from his past whom he still feels obligatd to help, which will very quickly require his skills and knowledge as both an NCIS agent and detective with the Baltimore Police Department. Little does he know the trouble he's walking into. His teammates must soon fight to save him when he disappears too.
1. Chapter 1

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter One

It was past the middle of the night on a Saturday by the time NCIS' senior field agent, Anthony DiNozzo, arrived home at his apartment after a long day at the office, even though the past two weeks have been slow. Due to the loss of the forth member of their team, Ziva, Tony and McGee have had to pick up the slack in the backed up paperwork and so have had to work overtime to finish it.

Tony looked forward to getting home and curling up in bed, but as he turned the corner through the hallway that lead to his apartment, he discovered someone standing outside of his doorway, waiting for him to come home. Someone he never really expected to see again, as the last time they had spoken, they did not part on good terms; Baltimore Police Fire Investigator, Jason King.

"Jason, how long have you been waiting out here?" Tony asked curiously as he began to unlock his door, then motioned for Jason to walk inside the apartment ahead of him.

"Not real long," he responded without turning around to look at Tony as the agent closed the door again. "I came thinking you would probably be awake, but wasn't really sure what to say, so…"

When Jason paused for a few moments and remained silent, Tony finally spoke up again saying, "Am I really going to have to ask? What exactly do you want? If my memory still serves me correctly, you still seemed pretty upset with me when you left NCIS that day."

Jason finally looked over at Tony as he answered, "I have a friend, a really good friend, whom I believe is in trouble and there's nothing that the detectives at Baltimore PD are able to do about it. They said that unless there's a body, there's no investigation, especially since he hasn't been missing long enough yet."

"And you came to me, thinking that I could do something that they couldn't?" Tony asked in confusion. "I'm a Navy cop. I investigate…"

"Look, I know what you do!" he interrupted angrily. "I know that finding out what happened to my friend isn't your job, but you're the only one who I can think of who can and you owe me!"

Tony scoffed as he turned away from him, then replied, "Wow, I knew that you still had a ways to go before you could forgive me, but I thought that by now you might have at least begun to try, especially after our last conversation. Apparently I'm wrong. As I said before, I'm sorry that there was nothing I could do to save your sister all those years ago, but you and I both know that I had no choice to do what I did. I'm sorry, Jason. I can't help you now. I have a job to do."

Jason continued, "My friend is going to wind up dead if you don't help me and then there will be two people I care about whose deaths will be on your conscience. Are you really willing to risk that? Please DiNozzo, help me by finding and saving him, take off a few weeks to do so, and then I finally might be able to put all this behind me. You'll get my forgiveness that I can tell you want so much."

"You're blackmailing me into helping you?" Tony asked sadly.

"I'm doing whatever I have to do to," the younger man responded coldly as he stared at Tony. "Will you do it?"

Tony looked back at Jason and then answered, "What do you know about his disappearance so far?"

Two days later, McGee walked into NCIS' headquarters and took a seat at his desk as he usually did every morning, except for on Sundays unless they were in the middle of a big case, then began to search through his desk drawers for something that after a few minutes into the search he realized Tony must have taken to mess with him; a pocket watch given to him by his grandmother, Penelope, that had once belonged to his great grandfather. The battery in it had been long dead and a few of its gears were old and rusted, and he had only just last night acquired all the right parts to finally repair it.

Gibbs walked in as McGee continued his search, then spoke up as he asked, "You lose something, Tim?"

"No boss, I mean yes, but I think Tony just took it and hid it to mess with me," he replied. "I'll talk to him when he gets in."

"It's already after eight o'clock," Gibbs responded as he too took a seat at his own desk. "DiNozzo's late."

McGee looked over at the clock on his computer, then answered, "You're right. Maybe he had a flat tire or ran out of gas."

Gibbs said, "Or maybe he's just running late."

"Actually, it's none of the above," Director Vance spoke as he walked down into the bullpen as well. "DiNozzo has requested to take a leave of absence for the next few weeks for personal reasons."

"That isn't like him, especially since neither of us has been back to work long since coming back from our break," McGee replied. "Tony was itching to get back to work. Why would he do that?"

The director responded, "He didn't say much more, but he sounded awfully adamant about how important this was to him. So, I finally agreed to give him the time he needed. I figured he could probably use it to help clear his head after losing Agent David."

Gibbs spoke up softly saying, "He has taken losing Ziva pretty hard, but there's something more going on here. Permission to find out what it is, Director?"

"Unfortunately, you've got yourselves a new case to solve and seeing as you're even more shorthanded than usual, I've found a couple of temporary replacements for you until Agent DiNozzo returns," Vance answered as two new agents walked over to them and both reached out to shake the teammates' hands. "Gibbs, McGee, I'd like you to meet Agents Song and Irwin. They're both on loan to us from the FBI, Agent Irwin being a member of the BAU. Agent Fornell spoke of them both very highly."

"It's good to meet you both," Gibbs replied with more sincerity than with what he felt, not liking the director's subtle way of trying to convince his team that they needed to soon find someone to replace Ziva permanently. "McGee, go ahead and gas the truck. I'll go and inform Duck we'll be needing his and Palmer's services."

McGee nodded and responded, "You've got it, boss."

Down in autopsy…

Gibbs walked into the room where Ducky sat at his computer looking over what looked like an old case file from years ago, then the ME turned and spoke up saying, "Jethro, if you're here to inform me of a new case, surely you could have called down, rather than walk in here to do so personally, unless of course you wish to talk about something more before we go."

"I do," Gibbs answered grimly. "Tony has taken a few weeks personal leave. He's taken Ziva leaving hard, but my gut's telling me that there more to this. Something's happened. Do you know anything that can help me figure out what's going on with him?"

"Unfortunately, I don't, but if you're concerned, you should go and talk with the boy," Ducky replied.

Gibbs scowled at the older man as he responded, "I intend to if I can find him, but I have a feeling that he's not going to make that very easy."

Ducky asked, "When has he ever made it easy on you?"

"I know," Gibbs answered. "You're right. I was just hoping that you might have picked up on something that could help."

"If it has something to do with Ziva, then perhaps you may already know that he mourns for her as if she had died, rather than just left, but if it is something else entirely, then perhaps you should get to the bottom of it as quickly as you can," Ducky replied. "Perhaps you could request to give this case to another team."

Gibbs shook his head and responded, "I already tried, but the man assigned this case to us."

Ducky smiled as he answered, "Since when have you ever so easily given in. If you are truly worried for Tony, then fight to go out to find him."

"If the urgency grows, then we're off this case," Gibbs replied as he left the room and got into the elevator. "I just hope DiNozzo knows what he's doing. Thanks, Duck."

"I pray Tony will be all right as well," the ME stated softly to himself after Gibbs left the room. "The boy does have a penchant for getting himself into trouble."


	2. Chapter 2

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Two

Later that evening, Tony pulled into a parking lot and stared worryingly at the building in front of him for several minutes before finally taking his keys out of the ignition. He checked himself out in the mirror under the visor, observing his own disheveled, worn down image, then after doing so he got out, slowly walked toward the building, and stepped inside, up to the counter.

He spoke up first to a young woman who appeared to work there saying softly, "Good evening, miss. I was hoping to speak with someone about getting checked in here."

She looked Tony over and then replied, "I can go ahead and get some paperwork for you to fill out, while I go and get my supervisor and part owner of The Good Hope Institute. What can I tell Dr. Woolsey your name is?"

"I'm Connor; Connor Bacic," the agent responded as he fidgeted in order to appear as a drug addict looking for help. "I'd appreciate that."

"I'll be right back then," she answered sweetly as she handed Tony some papers and a pen and then left the building's main lobby to find the doctor in charge.

Tony took the paperwork, but instead of getting started on them, he looked around as he observed a few of the other patients in the room as a couple of them were doing chores and others were just sitting down on the couch as they talked amongst themselves or watched television, then said softly to himself, "This is without doubt the stupidest thing I've ever done."

It wasn't long before the young woman and one of the clinic's doctors came back out as the man reached his right hand out to Tony, while he said, "Mr. Bacic, my name is Dr. Robert Woolsey. Jenna here informs me you're here tonight looking to check in?"

"That's right," he replied. "You can call me Connor."

"All right, Connor, while you fill these out, I'd like to learn a little about why you've come here," the man responded as he guided tony over to a few chairs and invited him to take a seat beside him. "How long have you been using and what kind of drugs are we talking about here?"

Tony continued to act nervously as he began to write while he answered, "It's been several years; twenty-something I suppose. I've used all kinds; antidepressants, ecstasy, heroine, amphetamines, though never shot the drugs into my system using needles… Just looking for the right mix to help solve my needs at the current times I've been at my worst. My whole life has been a mess, but to tell you the truth, it was only recently that I've hit rock bottom."

The doctor nodded, then cut Tony off as he stood up, then replied, "All right, that'll be enough for now. I'd like to get to know you better, but it would be better if we did so in a more private setting I think. I think we can definitely accommodate you and work together to help to get you healthy again and back on your feet. While Jenna helps to get you settled into your room, I'll go and have a chat with my partner, Doctor Emmett Gisborne. Then, tomorrow we'll get started. Does that sound goo to you?"

"That sounds fine, doc," Tony responded gloomily as he finished writing and handed his paperwork back to the man above him. "I'm not exactly sure what you can do for me, but seeing as I've never had anyone ever try to help me before, I figured coming here couldn't help."

"We can do a lot for you here, Connor," Woolsey answered as he quickly skimmed over the papers in his hands. "I can't help, but notice that you didn't put down an emergency contact."

Jenna came over and motioned for Tony to follow her as he looked back toward the doctor and replied, "I didn't because I don't have anyone to contact. I'm all alone."

The doctor looked at him sympathetically and then responded, "We'll get you the help you're looking for and you'll learn to feel much better about yourself."

Once Jenna walked him into his room, Tony looked around and suddenly felt very uncomfortable, not that he wasn't the moment he stepped into that place, but he felt as if the four walls of that very small room were about to close in on him. After a few minutes, Tony's cell phone inside his jacket pocket began to ring and when he looked at the caller id, he saw that it was his boss calling, then noticed a couple more missed calls, mostly from Gibbs, as well as a few from McGee. He was about to place the phone down on the nightstand beside his bed, when Jenna reached out and took it from his hands.

"I'm afraid that cell phones and other personal items, unless approved by the doctors, are permitted while you're here," she said sweetly. "I'll have to insist on taking your car keys as well as your wallet too. They'll be put in safe keeping for you, I promise. If you need to purchase anything at the grocer's next door, we'll hand it back to you, then put it away again."

"Sure thing," he answered as he handed these items over to her, then took a seat on his bed. "Thank you, Jenna. I'll see you later?"

She smiled at him and replied, "I'll actually be getting off soon, but I'll be back the day after tomorrow. I believe Amanda will be coming in tonight and then it's Monika in the morning."

Tony nodded, then responded, "I suppose I'll see you then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Jenna said and then walked out of the room, leaving Tony alone to collect his thoughts.

"Yes, definitely the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life," he said, again to himself. "Gibbs is going to kill me when he finds out about this, that is if whatever's going on here doesn't kill me first."


	3. Chapter 3

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Three

The next morning, a woman knocked on the door to Tony's room and before he could answer, she walked in carrying a tray and pulled back the curtain that covered his window, then turned to look down at Tony as he moved to sit up on his bed and stare at her. She didn't seem to care that she had just woke him up from what she could see was an uncomfortable sleep.

She spoke first saying, "Good morning, Mr. Bacic. I hope you slept well."

He looked at her with disdain as he answered, "Call me Connor and no, I didn't actually."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied as she picked up an alcohol pad as well as a needle and put her hand out for Tony's so she could wipe down the area on his arm where she planned to draw his blood, then stuck the needle into one of his veins to do so once she finished cleaning the spot on his left arm. "This should have been last night when you first arrived, as we do to all of our patients, but it was obviously forgotten. We need to test your blood for the types of drugs currently in your system. Call it a background check if you will."

"What, in case I'm lying about being a druggy?" he asked mockingly. "Sorry, I tend to result to sarcasm and humor when I'm in this frame of mind. You must be Monika."

The woman pulled the needle back out from his arm as she responded, "No, I'm Amanda Pratt. Monika will be in later this morning. I take it that Jenna informed you who was going to be working with you while you're here?"

DiNozzo nodded and answered, "Yeah, she did. She was very sweet."

"Yes she is," Amanda replied as she put the newly blood filled syringe back down on the tray, then picked up a small plastic cup with a lid, and handed it over to Tony. "I'm also going to need a urine sample, as I'm sure you already know."

"How could I forget," he responded grudgingly. "So, once we're all through here, what exactly is the plan for the day?"

She looked at him and answered, "We'll be serving breakfast and your morning pills to all our patients shortly, then you'll be meeting with Dr. Woolsey to have a talk with him more about why you've come here with us. There will be lunch and dinner later, while in between you'll have the opportunity to get to know some of the other patients here."

Tony smiled when she turned her back again to leave and replied, "Sounds perfect. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Amanda."

She didn't respond as she left the room, leaving Tony alone again as he remained on his bed and stared down at the newly made puncture mark in his arm while he thought back to the last two days, which he had spent getting ready for this undercover job by taking low doses of whatever drugs needed in order to make himself passable as a drug addict. The drugs he had gotten from an old informant back when he had worked for Baltimore PD. He hated doing so, but he needed to be convincing if he had any chance of discovering the truth behind what had happened to Jason King's friend, whom he had told him had come here for help in getting himself clean, then disappeared.

The agent finally got up and began to get ready, as he changed into some clothes he had brought with him in the one bag he had come with, then slowly read over the pamphlets with information about this place and magazines that were placed in the rooms as reading materials for the patients as he waited impatiently for the call for breakfast. When the meal was finally announced, Tony walked out of the room and passed through the halls as he continued observing his surroundings, as well as all of the other patients that passed by him.

Breakfast was about as good as the kind of food the hospitals give out. Tony only ate a little before he gave up and began picking at it, as he didn't have much of an appetite due to the nerves he has been feeling ever since Jason had come to him seeking his help. He then wondered about what his boss and McGee were up to right now, wishing that he could be there with them more than ever.

Amanda and a couple of the other nurses went around the room to give out their pills to the patients that would help to keep them under control and mellow. When Amanda handed him his pills, he put them in his mouth, but only pretended to swallow them as he hid them under his tongue. He quickly spit them out and shoved them into his pocket as soon as she turned her back on him.

"You don't exactly look like the usual people that check in here," one of the patients said gruffly as he walked up from behind him. "What's your name?"

"I'm T… Connor, Connor Bacic," he responded as he looked back at the tall, muscularly built man standing now in front of him. "And you are?"

He smiled and answered, "I'm Walt. Would you believe, this is my third time coming in here? Drug rehab is a joke if you ask me."

Tony tried to get a read on the man as he asked, "If you think this is a joke, then why are you here? Why keep coming back?"

"The first two times was because I was ordered to by the courts," Walt replied angrily. "My problems ended up causing me to go berserk on a couple of cops because I went out of my mind after I lost my job the first time I came here, then I lost my family, my friends, and finally my house so I went out and got hammered and nailed. Had a fling with a couple of prostitutes and got caught so I winded up here again so that I wouldn't have to end up in jail. I'm here this time because I just don't have a place to live and it beats living out on the streets. Besides, I'm still getting drugs and some other things."

"That's nice for you," Tony responded wearily, as he sensed there was something not right about this guy.

Walt spoke up again as he asked, "So, what's your story?"

Tony shook his head and answered, "Mine's not nearly as colorful as yours. Let's just say, my life took a tragic turn for the worst and I dealt with it the wrong way. I just want to get clean and leave this place as soon as possible."

"Yeah, good luck with that," the man replied and then laughed as he began to walk away until he turned back and stared at Tony with a smug look on his face. "Things aren't exactly what they seem here, Connor. You'll find that out soon enough for yourself and when you do, I'll be waiting for you. We'll have ourselves some fun."

"I can't wait," Tony responded to himself as his nerves only grew worse. "Jason, if I live through this, you so owe me one. You can forget about us being even."


	4. Chapter 4

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Four

Gibbs, McGee, and FBI agents Song and Irwin arrived back at NCIS headquarters after finishing up at the crime scene, which seemed pretty standard; a young naval officer appeared to have been killed and his body was dropped off and abandoned at a construction site in downtown D.C. When Ducky and Jimmy finished with the autopsy, they found that the victim had indeed been murdered by being poisoned. Now it was the team's job to figure out the truth behind his murder.

Several times throughout the day, Gibbs attempted to call DiNozzo, but every time, his phone went straight to voicemail, making the team leader more and more nervous, the longer his right hand was missing. He hated not being in the loop when it concerned his friends, especially knowing that whatever the younger agent was up to, he was about to get into trouble, if he wasn't already.

He put his phone away again after his latest attempt as McGee looked up at him from his desk and asked, "Still no luck with getting a hold of Tony?"

Gibbs shook his head, then responded, "Not yet. I'm sure he's fine."

"If that was true, you wouldn't be trying to call him so much," Tim replied as he looked back at his screen and continued typing.

"Have you found out who our John Doe is yet?" Gibbs asked, ignoring McGee's concern as he turned back to their case.

McGee answered, "Unfortunately, whoever this guy is, he's not in any of our databases. His fingerprints aren't listed, which means…"

Gibbs interrupted, "Which means that although our victim is dressed up in a naval uniform, he isn't really a naval officer."

"Why would whoever killed him take the time to dress him as one?" Agent Irwin asked. "Why would he want us to think this man was someone other than who he was?"

"We've had stranger circumstances," Gibbs responded as he moved to stand beside McGee so that he could see his computer screen to read over the information that was currently pulled up. "It's possible that whoever did this did this in order to target NCIS. It's happened more than we'd care to remember."

McGee continued, "He doesn't have any criminal record either, boss, or his prints would have come up after searching the criminal databases too. I'm about to search missing persons to see if anyone's reported him missing yet, but that might take awhile."

Gibbs looked up toward the director's office to see Leon standing on the stairs watching them from a distance, then make a motion for the senior agent to come up. Gibbs told McGee and the other agents to keep up the good work and then left the main room to follow up Vance to his office.

Leon spoke first saying, "So, you think that this killer is targeting NCIS."

"Or he could be targeting a specific member of NCIS," Gibbs replied. "We don't know hardly anything yet, including this guy's name. He doesn't seem to exist in any database. What's going on, director?"

"Have you gotten in touch with DiNozzo yet?" he asked calmly.

Gibbs glared at his boss as he said angrily, "No. What's really going on, Leon? What did he tell you before he left?"

The director answered, "As I told you before, he didn't tell me much, but I couldn't help, but feel that he was heading into trouble. He came off confident when he tried to explain the importance of this leave of absence, but I still got the sense that it was more of an act. You of all people know that the more confident he appears, the less he really feels."

"He's gone undercover again, without backup," Gibbs responded. "Seeing as you're worried about him, it means he's in trouble, Leon, which means that this case we're working on isn't our priority anymore. You need to reassign the case and allow me and McGee to find out the truth about what's going on with him."

"You're right," Vance replied. "I'll let Agents Irwin and Song know they'll be working with a different team. Hopefully when you get back, the case will be solved and all of us will still be standing."

Gibbs walked toward the door, then smiled and quickly stated, "Tell whoever you assign to the case that once they find out who our John Doe is, they should first take a look at his wife if he has one. Tony usually does and more times than you would think it's the answer."

Vance answered, "I'll do that."

"Come on, McGee, we're off to DiNozzo's apartment to try to find a lead on him," Gibbs stated when he walked back down into the bullpen, then walked to his desk, and pulled out his badge and gun from his drawer.

"Did something happen to him, Gibbs?" Abby asked worriedly as she came into the room in time to hear Gibbs' order. "You guys have to find him! Why didn't you tell me something was going on with him? Actually, I should have known something was wrong when he didn't come down to see me the past few mornings. He always comes by to see me when he comes in. I should have…"

Gibbs quickly cut her off saying, "Just take it easy, Abbs. We'll find him. He's going to be all right."

Abby asked again, "How do you know that, Gibbs? How do you always seem to be so confident he'll be fine whenever Tony gets himself into these messes?"

"Because, he's Tony and because Gibbs is the one that always makes sure that he is," McGee responded as he followed their boss toward the elevator. "We'll check in with you as soon as we find something out!"

"Timothy is right, my dear," Ducky spoke up saying as he too came walking into the room. "They will find him and Anthony will be back to coming down to say good morning to you every morning soon enough."

Abby wrapped her arms around him in a hug as she asked fearfully, "Why does this always happen to Tony?"


	5. Chapter 5

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Five

It wasn't long after breakfast that the third nurse Tony expected to meet, Monika, entered in to introduce herself, then let him know that Dr. Woolsey wanted to meet with him around one o'clock that afternoon. Tony smiled politely at the woman and then she left, without many words between them being exchanged. Tony could tell that this nurse was much quieter than the others and he was grateful, as the closer the time came for him to speak with the doctors, the more nervous and fearful he became. If he couldn't pull off this elaborate charade, they would find out quickly enough, and he would have purposefully put dangerous drugs into his body for nothing, as well as most likely wind up dead.

One o'clock came around and at one minute after, Tony knocked on the door to the man's office and when the man Tony had met the night before opened the door, he spoke up saying sternly, "Mr. Bacic, you're late."

Tony stared at the man quizzically as he replied, "By a minute? Actually, I was a minute early, but I figured I'd wait a couple of minutes so as to not show my eagerness. No one likes a suck up you know."

"I was just kidding," Woolsey continued. "I figured it kind of helps to break the ice a little, in order to let ease the tension. No one enjoys coming in for therapy."

"Yeah, you're telling me," Tony answered more to himself than to the doctor. "So, where's the big comfy couch?"

The doctor observed Tony's mannerisms as his latest patient sat down in an armchair across from his own, then responded, "A couch is a little to cliché for me. So, Mr. Bacic; I'm sorry, Connor; how are you feeling?"

Tony glared as he asked in reply, "Is that really all you've got for me, doc? How am I feeling?"

"Is that really such a crazy question?" the man asked.

"I guess you're the therapist," Tony answered. "I suppose I'm feeling pretty low. I mean, I'm here for a reason, right doc?"

Dr. Woolsey sat back in his chair as he responded, "You tell me. I'm just here to listen."

Tony shrugged, then took a moment before he finally began, "Things have been rough for a long time now, but it wasn't until recently that I realized how messed up I really was. To be honest, I'm not really sure when it all began; the drugs I mean. I think I might have started back in high school when a few friends call me out on a dare; we experimented a little bit, but that didn't last long. I was injured playing basketball in college, blowing my chances of playing professionally like I had planned. I didn't take that very well, but it didn't really start to get bad until a few years later when I fell in love and got engaged. It wasn't long before she cheated on me with whom I thought was my best friend. It's a common story, doc. Things just kept going downhill from there. The worse things got, the heavier the drugs became. I got expelled from college, lost my job, which really was no loss at all, but only added to the list of problems I was creating for myself, and then on top of it all, the one person that cared about me at all was killed in a drive by shooting. I was the lucky survivor."

"What about your family, your parents?" the man asked. "Was that person you say was the one that cared about you someone in your family?"

"No, my mom died when I was young and my father wanted nothing to do with me," he replied. "When I was a kid, I was left behind at a hotel for two days while my father went off chasing some woman, then he shipped me off to boarding school a short time later and I haven't seen him since."

The doctor waited to speak again while he allowed the information Tony was sharing with him to sink in and then finally said again saying, "You certainly have seemed to been through quite a lot, but I'm getting the sense that there's something deeper you're holding back; perhaps the true reason why you've turned to drugs and have only recently hit rock bottom as you've said. Please, try to dig deeper. What is really troubling you?"

Tony realized that he would have to step it up and show some emotion if he was going to have any hope of convincing this man that he really belonged here; he was going to have to be truthful, which he hasn't even been with those that were closest to him, his boss, his teammate, with anyone.

Tony looked off in the distance as he spoke softly, "I suppose it isn't really a single event in my life that's the reason for me being where I am today, nor is it I suppose all of them together. It's something more. Have you ever felt as though you repel the people closest to you or have you ever realized that the reason why people have a hard time getting to know you is because they think of you as a bad luck charm? I've known I've repelled people for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that someone told me that they didn't want to be anywhere near me because they were afraid I was going to get them killed."

"Why do you think so?" Woolsey asked.

"Why do I think people repel me or why do I seem to believe whoever said I was bad luck?" Tony asked. "I never fully let someone in that I cared about and she died before I could share with her how much her friendship meant to me. It wasn't long before I eventually let another woman in until I pushed her away as well. I hurt her and I thought I lost her until she came back into my life, but despite the love I felt for her; well it wasn't meant to be. She left and nothing I could say or do was enough to convince her to stay. I've hurt a number of people in my life and others are afraid to get to know me, to work with me because they're afraid I'll hurt them too. They've heard the stories. I'm nothing to them, but a jinx and they're right to think so. It's all true."

Dr. Woolsey nodded and then asked again, "This woman that you loved, was her leaving you the reason for you hitting rock bottom; the reason for you finally coming here?"

Tony looked back at the man and answered, "I suppose that could be part of it. Another part of it is because I owe someone a debt because I hurt them too. Being here is a way of finally making things right for him."

"Please, elaborate on that," the doctor responded.

"Not today, doc," the agent now working undercover replied as he looked down at his watch, then stood up and headed toward the door. "Perhaps another time, but I hardly know you and besides, it looks like we're out of time. Thanks for the talk."

Woolsey watched his patient leave suddenly, then pulled out his cell phone as it rang, and when he answered, the voice on the other end of the line spoke up saying, "_I see your newest patient just seemed to leave in a bit of a hurry? How does he seem to you?_"

The doctor answered, "He appears to be all alone and probably won't be missed if that's what you mean?"

"_That's good,_" the voice responded coldly. "_Our next step will be to create a situation where we'll be able to see how he handles himself in a fight. Leave that to me. Just continue to try to get as much information out of him as possible._"

"Fine, but I won't be helping you for much longer," Woolsey said in frustration. "After him, I'm done. I won't allow anymore deaths to be on my head."


	6. Chapter 6

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Six

Gibbs and McGee drove to Tony's apartment while Tim tried several times to get a hold of Tony, even though he knew by the second call that the senior field agent's phone was turned off. Whatever Tony was doing was obviously important enough to him to allow anything to get in his way.

When the two agents walked into Tony's apartment, they found that there were things strewn around everywhere, showing that Tony had not been his usual self, as he usually kept his place tidy and well kept. They also found half emptied takeout food boxes and a couple of beer bottles left on his coffee table, as well as a broken beer bottle on the floor near a wall, indicating that Tony had thrown it against the wall in a fit of anger.

"What could have possibly upset Tony so much that has caused all this?" Tim asked worriedly. "I mean, I know he's been hurting over Ziva leaving, but…"

"There's something more to it," Gibbs answered softly as he bent down to pick up the larger shards of glass. "He's gone undercover again, but this time for personal reasons."

Tim continued looking around until his eyes stopped on Tony's laptop, then he took a seat in front of it and turned it on as he responded, "Whatever is going on with him, there may be something on his computer that could help us figure it out, although I hate to invade his privacy like this."

Gibbs walked into Tony's bedroom and opened up a drawer in his nightstand, finding his senior field agent's gun and badge, then Gibbs spoke up saying, "If you find anything that will help us find him, then invading his privacy will be worth it, and we need to find him as soon as possible. He left his gun and badge behind. If he is investigating something, he's somewhere that isn't safe for him to be made as an agent. Work your magic, McGee."

"It doesn't look like there's anything of interest to us here, except for a couple of emails that might be something… something that could be worth a look into," Tim replied as he opened one up sent to Tony by someone named Jimmy Irons with the subject titled, 'Urgent!'

"Tony asked this guy for a favor," Gibbs said as he read through the short and vague email, then pulled out his cell phone to make a call. "He must be a part of this. I'm going to call Abby to ask her if she can quickly find out who this Jimmy Irons is."

Their team's bright forensic scientist picked up after her phone rang only once, as Abby swiftly cried, "_Gibbs! Gibbs! Did you find Tony yet?_"

Gibbs answered, "We haven't been gone that long, Abbs. Listen, we need you to do something for us. Can you look up the name Jimmy Irons for me? He may have some information that could help us?"

"_You've got it, just give me a few seconds,_" she replied as she began to type wildly on her keypad. "_It looks like Jimmy Irons is an ex drug dealer, who now works as an informant with Baltimore PD. His record is pretty lengthy, but it doesn't appear that he's done anything in quite some time._"

"Perhaps Tony turned him around, which is why he's in contact with him now," Gibbs answered. "I need you to send me his address, Abby. We need to go talk with him ourselves."

Abby quickly replied, "_You've got it, boss man. I'm sending it to you now. Good luck!_"

Gibbs hung up and then turned back to McGee as he said, "We've got ourselves a suspect and an address. Let's go."

"I also might have something else," Tim stated after he walked away from the computer, then picked up a business card that was sticking out from underneath one of the takeout boxes with a very familiar name on it, and showed it to Gibbs. "I think I might know why Tony's doing whatever it is that he's doing. It looks like Jason King might be involved in this too."

"We've now got two people to go see," the team leader grumbled sternly. "I suggest we start with King first."

Meanwhile…

A few hours after his first appoint with Dr. Woolsey, Tony wandered around the rehab center making it look to others like he was just checking out his new surroundings when in truth he was actually searching for anything suspicious. Throughout the day, he also spoke to several of the other patients in hope that they might be able to point him toward Jason's friend. Unfortunately, he had yet to get anyone to answer him, as most of the people in there were very distrusting.

Tony was about to head back to his room for the night until mostly everyone else was asleep, when he planned to sneak out in order to continue his search in the more restricted areas, until he was suddenly interrupted by another of the patients, whose hands shook, indicating that he had a tough addiction to whatever drugs he had a problem with.

The man spoke first saying, "You really should get out of here while you have the chance, young man. Things aren't right here and if you stick around, you'll end up getting caught up in whatever's wrong."

Tony stared at the older man as he asked, "Exactly what is going on here, Rudy?"

"I don't know, but the people that work here have been acting strangely," the man answered. "They're up to something and eventually, we'll all get caught up in it."

"If you're so worried, why don't you just leave?" Tony asked oddly.

Rudy responded, "I don't have much of a choice. If I want to see my daughter again, then I have to stay and complete the program. I'll be alright, but you're new meat around here. I suggest you watch your back."

Tony replied, "So I've been told. Listen, do you know another patient named Craig Lucien?"

"I did know him," Rudy answered. "Big, tough guy; kind of had a temper. I haven't seen him for a few days now though. He seems to have checked out. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious," Tony responded. "Never mind. Thanks for the warning, Rudy. I'll try to keep my head down. You do the same."

Rudy glared at him, then walked away as he replied, "I always do, kid."


	7. Chapter 7

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Seven

A heavy knock sounded at his door, but it took the second one before Jason King finally got up to answer it, but when he did, he really wished he hadn't as he saw Agent Gibbs and McGee standing in front of him looking very cross. Without saying a word, Jason stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. Once they did, Gibbs pulled out the card Jason had given to Tony and held it up in front of his face, indicating that he was looking for answers as to why Tony had it.

When he didn't say anything right away, Gibbs became impatient and finally spoke up saying, "You know why we're here. You went to visit DiNozzo some time fairly recently and now, he's disappeared to help you out with something, without his gun, his badge, or his teammates to back him up. Tell us what we want to know, now."

Jason looked between the two agents and then responded, "I went to Tony for help because I needed his expertise as both a cop and an agent and I asked him not to share it with you because it's a sensitive matter."

"And also because you used Tony's guilt over what happened to your sister in order to blackmail him into helping you," Gibbs answered angrily.

"Tony did say you would figure everything out, though sooner than I would have expected," King replied solemnly. "I did what I had to do. Tony wasn't going to agree and so yes, I used guilt to get him to help me. I am not sorry. A very good friend's life is at stake. If anyone could help him, I knew DiNozzo could."

Saying the words he knew Gibbs was thinking too, McGee responded, "What you did was still wrong and if anything happens to Tony, you won't like the consequences. Where is Tony?"

Jason turned away from the agents as he answered, "I know the two of you are worried about your friend, but I can't risk you interfering with his investigation. If anything happens to Craig…"

"You ought to be more concerned if anything happens to Tony," Gibbs interrupted. "McGee's right. You won't like what happens to you if he's hurt or worse. Where is he?"

"You'll have to throw me in prison for obstruction," King replied coldly. "You heard what I said. I won't talk. If you care so much for your teammate, you'll have to do your job on your own."

Gibbs glared at Jason, then suddenly shoved him up against the wall of his apartment, and handcuffed his hands behind his back as he said, "Jason King, you're under arrest for obstruction and the blackmailing of a federal agent. Don't think that just because you work for Baltimore PD you'll be set free anytime soon. I won't let them help you."

After Gibbs finished and he and McGee walked Jason out to their car to place him in the back, McGee spoke up again saying, "Jason's captain isn't going to like this and as soon as he hears about this, Baltimore PD will have a grudge against NCIS from now on. We won't be able to depend on them for anything. What now?"

"Now we head over to speak with our second lead," Gibbs responded curtly. "We'll deal with King after we're finished."

Thanks to the D.C. traffic, it took them almost forty-five minutes before they pulled up in front of the broken down, wreck of an apartment building where Jimmy Irons lived. Before heading inside, Gibbs made sure that their arrestee was secure and wouldn't be able to escape while they were inside.

Within a few minutes McGee knocked on Irons' door and before he could knock again, the door opened slightly as the man inside peaked out to see who was there. Gibbs saw that the man seemed to be overly cautious and perhaps not too keen of police officers despite working with them for as long as he has, but pulled out his badge nonetheless, as did McGee, in order to announce themselves.

"Jimmy Irons, I'm Agent Gibbs and this is Agent McGee," Gibbs began. "We're with NCIS. We understand you know our teammate, Agent Tony DiNozzo?"

The man suddenly opened the door and motioned for the men to come inside, then quickly closed the door behind them, and spoke up as he answered, "You work with Tony? Is he all right?"

McGee replied, "Actually, we're not sure. We haven't been into contact with him for several days and we understand that you have been in contact with him recently."

"Why do you say that?" Jimmy asked skittishly.

"Because we read the emails the two of you exchanged," Gibbs responded. "What kind of favor did Tony ask from you? You obviously consider him a friend and I'm guessing he's probably helped out you out in the past when he worked with Baltimore PD, so he felt comfortable enough with asking you for help in return. Please help us out now."

Irons invited them to take a seat on his couch and then quickly tidied up as he finally answered, "You're right about Tony, Agent Gibbs. He did help me out a lot years ago. In fact, he saved my life more than once. I was glad to help him out, but when he asked me for drugs, which I knew how to get from an old dealer I knew from back when I dealt myself, not that I still do that stuff now…"

McGee looked at the man in confusion as he asked, "Tony asked for drugs? Did he say for what?"

"No and I didn't really push the matter, though I tried to at first, but he asked me not to ask any questions," Jimmy replied. "Seeing as you're here now though, I wish I had tried harder. He seemed pretty upset when he came by to pick the drugs up."

"What kind of drugs did he ask you for?" Gibbs asked again.

The man pacing across from them as they questioned him responded, "Whatever I could get my hands on, but only in low doses; methamphetamine, LSD, and maybe opium. For anyone taking them, it would be enough to show up in their blood work if they were being tested, but hardly enough to cause much harm, at least not long term harm. However, if combined, it could be much worse. I wish that I had more information, but…"

Gibbs interrupted, "You've been a big help, Mr. Irons. I just need to know one more thing. When was the last time you've seen Tony?"

"If you're asking me if he's come to me before for drugs, the answer's no, Agent Gibbs," Jimmy answered. "Surely you know that he would never take drugs himself unless it was life or death. If I had to guess, I think that the last time I saw him was about thirteen years ago."

"You're right," Gibbs stated worriedly. "Thank you for your time and again for your help. We'll see ourselves out."

Once the agents left, McGee spoke up as he asked, "You don't really think that Tony would be crazy enough to take those drugs himself, do you boss?"

Gibbs looked over at the younger man as he replied grimly, "Only if it was life or death and my gut's telling me that that's exactly what he's gotten himself into. Jason knows why. We need to find a way to get him to talk and soon, or we won't find DiNozzo in time."


	8. Chapter 8

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Eight

It was late into the night when most of the people, patients and a few of the center's employees, were asleep, all except Tony, who lay awake on his bed in the darkness of his room as it was mandatory for all lights to be out by eleven o'clock. Tony wanted to sleep, but his mind wouldn't allow it, even if he wasn't working a dangerous undercover job on his own. Sleep had evaded him long before.

After lying awake for what felt like hours, Tony heard the sound of heavy footsteps and whispering voices outside his room, then continue on down the hallway, and within seconds, Tony was up and at his door, waiting for his chance to follow after the rehab's employees, one of whom he could make out as Dr. Woolsey, in hope that they would lead him to whatever it was really going on here.

Within five minutes, the doctor and the unknown employee entered what looked to be a storage room, but when Tony followed after them, he watched as they disappeared through another door that was labeled, 'employees only.' Tony continued on as he walked down what was a long tunnel that traveled beneath the rehab center and beyond it until he finally came to a mostly open area that reminded the agent of the famous rumble scene in the movie, West Side Story.

In the middle of the room, there was a large metal cage where two men, both of whom Tony recognized as rehab patients, were fighting against one another in a boxing match, without the boxing gloves, as a large number of men and women stood around them watching the fight while exchanging large sums of money. The big secret about this place was that the center's employees were funding and somehow providing fighters for an underground fight club. Tony had no doubt that the patients were all being given some kind of drugs to help rev up their aggression and adrenaline and that Jason King's friend was stuck somewhere in the middle of it.

Tony continued watching in dread as the observers screamed and cheered the fighters on while their attacks grew, when all of a sudden one of the patients struck a vicious blow in the side of his opponent's head and caused the man to fall hard to ground as he remained still and barely conscious. Suddenly, the fight came to a standstill when the fighter still standing swiftly reached down and brutally broke the other's neck, then began to shout out in triumph while the crowd cheered in pleasure of what he had just done.

It was then that Tony realized his mistake as this was far beyond what he could do without his friends at NCIS, but as he was about to leave where he had been hiding from the view of anyone who might recognize him to head back toward the rehab center, he turned around just in time to see Jenna, who smiled at him until her face grew cold as she suddenly tasered him on his neck until the agent collapsed up against the wall behind him and then to the ground unconscious.

Dr. Woolsey came over a few seconds later as he stared down at his latest patient on the ground in shock, then over at the nurse as he asked, "What happened here? How did he…?"

Jenna quickly interrupted, "Pull it together, Rob. Either Connor Bacic is too nosy for his own good, or he isn't exactly who he says he is. Either way, he's seen too much and can't be trusted enough to be put back with the other patients. We have to deal with him. I knew this would happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time. Go talk with Emmett and I'll go talk with our backers. They can decide what we do with him."

"Whatever made you so cold, Jenna?" Woolsey asked. "How did you get pulled into all this and how can you enjoy it?"

"I was just lucky and I enjoy it because it makes me rich," she replied. "I came from nothing and now, thanks to Emmett, I have everything I could possibly want. He always told me that I would learn to like the fights and it turns out that he was right. You should learn to enjoy it too, just as you continue enjoying its rewards. Just go."

After Dr. Woolsey left, two guards from the rehab center that were down there to keep an eye on the fighters and to keep them in line if need be came by and dragged Tony away, then an older woman approached Jenna from behind, who spoke up as she asked, "Who was that gorgeous hunk of a man that your guards just dragged away?"

Jenna smiled as she responded, "He's a patient of ours that became too curious. I was just about to come and find you. His name is Connor Bacic, or at least that's what he told us, but I'm not so sure. What would you and your brother like us to do with him?"

"I'd like to get to know him a little better, but he looks like he would make a great opponent for our current champion," she answered as she looked back toward the crowd as they finished cashing out after the latest fight. "Go tell Lucien that he needs to prepare himself for another fight tomorrow night. He should be very pleased to hear it."

"Emmett and I will take care of everything," Jenna replied before turning to leave.

Three hours later…

Tony reawakened to find himself strapped down to an exam table inside what looked like an examination room of some kind, most likely back at the rehab center. The agent fought against the straps, but to no avail. His bindings were firm and tight, giving his wrists and ankles absolutely no room to twist around in hope of loosening them.

It wasn't long before someone Tony had yet to meet walked in and spoke up saying, "It's good to see you awake, Mr. Bacic. I was hoping to get the chance to get to know you before we go through with what we have planned for you. I'm Dr. Emmett Gisborne, Dr. Woolsey's business partner."

Tony glared at him as he responded, "I know who you are, doc. I've seen the pictures of you and the others throughout this place. So, how long have you guys been running an underground fight club, or is it that you don't talk about it because the first rule of fight club is not to talk about fight club?"

"I see you enjoy the movies," Gisborne answered and then chuckled. "So do I and I have to say that the one you just quoted helped to inspire me and a few friends. We were all a bit surprised to find you down there tonight, though it hasn't been the first time a patient of ours followed us. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get the same opportunity we're going to give you. He didn't exactly meet our criteria."

"And what opportunity is that?" Tony asked again angrily. "Is it that I get to become one of your lucky fighters? Sorry, I think I'll pass. I'm not exactly into fight clubs, especially not for another person's gain."

The doctor smiled at Tony's bravado as he replied, "I'm afraid you don't have much choice. We've got something that will help you to change your mind."

DiNozzo didn't like the sound of that as he spoke up again as he responded, "Sounds ominous. What exactly does that mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Gisborne answered. "Right now, I just want to know one thing. Are you really who you say you are; a man with no family or friends, with an addiction to drugs to help ease the pain you're in, and who considers himself a jinx?"

"How about you tell me," Tony answered smugly. "I'm obviously dead no matter what I say and so who I am doesn't matter in the slightest, but what you do need to know is that if you do this, you all are going to wish you hadn't. I can promise you that."

The smugness on the doctor's face disappeared and as he stood up, he glared down at DiNozzo as he said coldly, "You may or may not be Connor Bacic, but rest assured that whoever you are, very soon you won't know him anymore. Once we're through with you, your identity will disappear and you'll begin the fight of your life. I really do hope that you're the victor. I'd certainly like to get to know the real you."

Tony watched the man leave and then whispered to himself, "Come on, Gibbs. I really hope your gut is telling you something's wrong because otherwise, I'm a dead man, in more ways than one."


	9. Chapter 9

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Nine

As soon as they arrived back at NCIS headquarters, Gibbs and McGee escorted their latest detainee, Jason King, into one of the interrogation rooms, then both took a seat across from him as Gibbs spoke up sternly saying, "I told you that no matter what you say to your boss, it wasn't going to do you any good. Director Vance is speaking with him right now, pulling a few strings to make sure that you don't go anywhere until you give me what I want to know. You think that remaining silent is going to protect your friend? What about Tony? Do you care at all that you've put him in danger; that he could die trying to help you?"

Jason turned away as he answered, "He's more like a brother to me. I did what I had to do. I tried to go through the proper channels, but they said I had no case. I knew that NCIS would say the same and so I went to DiNozzo. He owed me and he is more than capable of finding my friend."

"And you asked him to go in alone, without his friends to be there to back him up?" McGee asked. "Why? What is the real reason why you don't want us involved in this?"

"Because my friend would be considered a criminal to you and I didn't think you'd be willing to let his discretions slide if you found him," King replied in frustration. "He's turned to illegal drugs to help him cope with the death of his sister and her son, which eventually led him assault a few guys in a bar. I convinced the bar's owner and those he attacked not to press charges. My friend tried to stop using, but the withdrawal only made him angrier. Five days ago, he disappeared and only someone with DiNozzo's skills and resources can find him."

McGee responded, "Drug withdrawal without the proper help is dangerous, which it looks like your friend has already discovered. You should have convinced your friend to go to a rehab center."

After reading Jason's sudden nervous expression, Gibbs cocked his head as he stated, "He did. Your friend was in one when he, disappeared. Keep talking. Who is your friend and where is this rehab center?"

"Can I get your guarantee that you won't arrest him, for anything?" King asked. "He isn't a criminal. He just made mistakes."

"I won't make any promises, but if he is as you say, then he will have no problems with us," Gibbs answered. "Where is Tony?"

King paused and then finally answered, "My friend's name is Craig Lucien and he's at a center called The Good Hope Institute. He wasn't there long before he disappeared. He called me every other night to check in with me, but when he didn't call one night, I had a feeling that something was wrong, and so I went to visit him. The nurses there told me he had checked out and when I spoke to a doctor, he told me that Craig wasn't receptive to their help and so he left. They were all lying and they knew my face, so I knew that I would need to figure out another way in. For what it's worth, Agent Gibbs, I didn't choose DiNozzo because I hoped that he would land himself in trouble. I may have my issues with him, but I certainly didn't wish him harm."

Gibbs was about to say something when Director Vance suddenly opened the door and motioned for Gibbs and McGee to come out, then as they got up, Gibbs looked at Jason King and said, "We'll do all we can to help your friend if he's still alive, but when this is all over, you'll have to answer for the trouble you've caused and if Tony's hurt, or worse, then I will make sure you are held partly responsible. You made a mistake the moment you chose to blackmail him, using his guilt to get what you want."

"What's going on, Director?" McGee asked after he and Gibbs exited the room and followed after their boss down the halls until they came to the outside of one of their conference rooms.

"We've got a visitor, who couldn't possibly have worse timing," Vance replied.

When the three walked into the room, they found Anthony DiNozzo Sr. standing at the end of the table, waiting for Agent Gibbs to arrive. The team leader looked over at Vance for confirmation on whether or not he had talked to Tony's father about his son missing, but the look on the man's face indicated that he hadn't, knowing that it would be better coming from Gibbs instead.

Vance left as McGee and Gibbs walked over to Sr. and motioned for him to sit, then Tony's father spoke up saying, "Agent Gibbs, Agent McGee; it's good to see you again, but I was hoping to come here to see my son. Seeing as you're here instead, I gather he's busy with a case. Is he all right?"

Gibbs looked directly at the older man as he responded, "I'm afraid we can't really answer that. He's been missing for the last few days now after he went off to help someone from his past and we're not sure what's happened to him. I assure you, we're doing everything we can to find him. Luckily, we've finally just received a good lead on his last known whereabouts. It's possible that he's not even in trouble at all…"

"But from the look on your faces, I see you don't really believe that," Sr. interrupted. "My son always did have a knack for getting himself in trouble."

"But he's also one hell of a fighter," Gibbs answered back. "He'll stay alive long enough for us to find him, but if we're going to in time, then we need to leave, now."

Tony's father nodded and then replied, "Do whatever you have to do. Please, just save my son."

Gibbs reached out to shake the man's hand and then with more confidence than what he really felt, responded, "We will. You're welcome to wait here if you'd like, or you can head to your son's apartment. We'll give you a call once we find him."

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs, Agent McGee," DiNozzo Sr. said.

"This is what we do," McGee spoke up finally as he shook the man's hand as well. "Unfortunately, danger just happens to come with the job, but we somehow always get through it. Tony will this time too."


	10. Chapter 10

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Ten

Agents Gibbs and McGee walked into the Good Hope Institute and showed their badges to Amanda and Jenna who were standing at the desk at the time, as Gibbs spoke up curtly, "Ma'am, Miss, I'm Agent Gibbs and this is Agent McGee. We're with NCIS. We'd like to talk to you about a few patients of yours."

Amanda glared at them, ignoring the pictures McGee pulled out of his coat pocket, and responded rudely, "Surely you two know that the patients that come here come expecting their privacy. We don't divulge any information about them, even to you, unless you've got a warrant. Do you have a warrant?"

"If we have to get one, we will, but if you'll just take a look at the pictures anyway, maybe there's a chance you can help us without revealing whether or not they're here," Gibbs replied as he took the photos from McGee and showed them to the two women standing in front of them.

"Amanda, I'm going to go finish showing our newest arrival around the facilities before I forget," Jenna quickly spoke nervously as she recognized the men in the pictures as Tony and Craig Lucien.

Gibbs noticed her nervousness as she walked off, as did McGee, then they turned back to the older nurse as Gibbs said, "It appears that these two are patients here. That young lady who just left was nervous and I'm guessing it's because she's involved with whatever strange is going on here."

It was then that Monika walked over after overhearing the agents mention there was trouble as she asked, "You suspect there's trouble going on here? I mean, I thought something strange was happening, but I certainly didn't think it was serious enough for two federal agents to become involved."

"What do you mean something strange?" McGee asked.

"It's just that over the last few months, four or five patients have disappeared long before their rehab programs have been completed," the youngest nurse at the center answered. "Dr. Woolsey and Dr. Gisborne both said that they just weren't ready yet, but one of them, the more handsome man from your photos, just checked in a couple days ago and he left last night. I met him and he wasn't like any of the others. He appeared deeply troubled; sad, and I could tell that he really wanted his life to change for the better. He didn't seem like the give up type, especially after two days."

Amanda spoke up again as she said coldly, "Be quiet, Monika. You're not to give out information about the patients…"

Monika interrupted, "I don't care about the rules here if it means we can't truly give our patients the help they really need. These two and others are obviously in some kind of trouble if the cops are here. Agents, I'm not sure what's really going on here, but I'll go call our owners so they can come down to speak with you."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Gibbs responded as Monika walked off, leaving Amanda alone at the desk as she stood there glared at the agents while Gibbs turned to McGee and talked to the younger man quietly enough so that Amanda couldn't hear them. "Tony must have gotten himself caught investigating, or they discovered that he's a cop on their own. Either way, he is in trouble."

"It's good to see that at one person in here seems to be a decent person," McGee replied. "Hopefully at least one of the doctors will be just as cooperative."

Gibbs asked, "Were you able to find out anything about the founders of this place?"

Tim pulled up information on his phone as he answered, "Thanks to Abby, I was able to pull it up faster. They're both legit and have no criminal records, but they're also loaded. Either this place charges an outrageous fee for each of their patients, or…"

"Or there's something more going on here, like some kind of illegal operation," Gibbs finished for him.

"Something that's not good," McGee added. "I hope Tony's all right."

A few minutes later, Monika walked back into the lobby, followed by one of the doctors who reached his hand out to shake the agents' as he spoke up saying, "Good evening, gentlemen. My name's Dr. Robert Woolsey. I understand you're with NICS and you're here to speak with me about a few of our patients?"

McGee pulled out the pictures once again to show the doctor as Gibbs responded, "I'm Agent Gibbs. This is Agent McGee. Do you know these two men?"

"Yes, both of these men were once patients here, but they've left us, Connor just last night, I believe," the doctor replied nervously after looking at the pictures."

"Connor?" McGee asked in confusion.

Woolsey nodded and answered, "Yes, Connor Bacic and from the looks on your faces I'm guessing that that isn't this man's real name. The other one went by Craig Lucien. Is that not true either?"

Gibbs sensed the man's nerves and because he knew that the more time he wasted with trying to keep up the pretense Tony had worked to set up, Gibbs decided to be candid as he held up Tony's picture and then responded, "I need you to listen to me very carefully and then tell me the truth, doctor. This man is Agent Tony DiNozzo; he's one of us. He came here undercover in order to investigate Craig Lucien's disappearance, but now both of them are missing. If you're involved somehow in their disappearances, if you know anything, you need to talk to us right now."

"I don't know anything about that, Agent Gibbs," Dr. Woolsey replied even more nervously than before. "It's just like I said. Con… I mean, your friend left here last night and Mr. Lucien left some time before that. Now, unless you've got a war..."

"We don't have time for any of your nonsense," Gibbs interrupted angrily. "Our colleague's life is at stake and you know what's going on here; talk!"

Woolsey looked over at Monika, noticing the confused look on her face, then looked back at the agents as he finally relented, "I never wanted anything to do with this, but my partner's the one that started it all. I had no choice, but to go along with it."

Tim retorted, "We always have a choice, Dr. Woolsey."

"You don't understand, Emmett tempted me with the money we would make at first, but then he began to change," the doctor answered. "Things got worse, more dangerous and then people started dying. When I told my partner I was through, he threatened my life and my family. You see, we run an underground fight club for very wealthy clients, Agent Gibbs; McGee, using some of our patients as the fighters, but we only bring in those that don't have anyone that will miss them. Craig Lucien was taken nights ago, then last night, your agent managed to discover us, so we had to stop him. We didn't think he had anyone to miss him either, thanks to the story he told us."

"What do you mean, you stopped him?" Gibbs asked angrily. "Where is he?"

Woolsey spoke up again fearfully, "I'm afraid that you're too late. We took him and prepped him for tonight's fight. It's going on right now and your agent is the newest fighter against our champion, Craig Lucien."

Gibbs grabbed onto the lapels of the doctor's coat and shoved him hard up against the wall as he firmly said, "Take me to him, now! If he dies, I swear that I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you all pay to the fullest degree."


	11. Chapter 11

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Eleven

Meanwhile…

A large crowd gathered around the underground arena once again, just as they had at least once a week ever since Dr. Gisborne and his backers, a man by the name of Richard Driscoll and his sister Regina, had begun the fight club over a year ago. They grew rowdier when two of the guards escorted in Craig Lucien, who was wearing shackles over his wrists and ankles for the men's' protection, as the drugs in his system made him wild and vicious, into the center of the arena. The large group of moneygrubbers loved the scene Lucien was creating as he hollered and screamed to try to amp them up.

Ten minutes later, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was also escorted in by two more guards, also wearing shackles as he too had now been drugged to make him just as aggressive as his opponent. After Tony finished revving up the onlookers even more than they already were, the four guards carefully removed the cuffs as Dr. Gisborne announced the fight to get it started.

Once everyone except for the fighters in the night's event had cleared the arena, the fight of both men's lives had begun and the spectators all cheered and shouted out the names of the man they hoped to win. Most of them cried Lucien's name, though after seeing how well Tony handled himself, more and more men and woman began to cry out Bacic. The fight was like a cross between an MMA fight on television, though real, without any kind of censors, and a scene from the movie, Mortal Kombat, without the special effects and monsters. The spectators were loving every moment and large sums of money were being exchanged as they bet on who would win in the end.

While the Driscolls observed it all, the brother leaned over near his sister and spoke out above the shouting saying, "This latest patient appears to have quite the survival instinct. I've got a feeling that he'll be a great new investment."

Regina kept her eyes on the opponents as she replied, "Perhaps, but if Connor Bacic does manage to beat Lucien, which I am hoping he does, will the drugs in his system be strong enough to get him to kill?"

"No matter what kind of man he was before, he's not that man anymore," Richard answered smugly. "Everything's going to be fine, you'll see."

"If you say so," his sister responded, when all of a sudden, screams began to erupt throughout the crowd as a large number of agents and police officers carrying their weapons flooded out from the tunnel into the arena, led by a man with salt and pepper colored hair.

The men and women scattered as the invasion began and the officers attempted to wrangle in as many of the criminals as they could, while Gibbs and McGee attempted to fight their way through to find their missing teammate. When they finally found Tony, he was fighting against an agent trying to calm him down and the other man they were also there to rescue. Dr. Woolsey had been right about them being too late.

McGee quickly turned to his boss as he shouted, "How are we going to calm him down? Whatever drugs they've given him, they've turned him into the terminator and he's angry!"

Gibbs knocked out one of the fight spectators, who attempted to knock him down, then looked over toward Tony as he shouted back, "He's still Tony. He won't hurt us."

The older agent slowly moved toward DiNozzo as he motioned for two officers to back away from his friend and Lucien, while the two drugged men continued fighting one another. However, it was then that Lucien suddenly got the upper hand on Tony as he kneed the senior field agent in his chest, causing him to double over. The dirty move was a distraction enough to make it so that Lucien could wrap his arms around Tony's throat as the older man began to choke him, until Gibbs came up from behind the man and hit him hard over the back of his head using the butt of his gun. The force wasn't enough to knock him out completely, but McGee swiftly jumped in and finally knocked him out for good so that Gibbs could focus on helping Tony.

"Tony, I know you're not feeling very well right now, but I need you to try to stay calm," Gibbs said calmly as he slowly placed his gun back in his holster and continued looking directly at his friend.

"You and McGee really shouldn't have come for me, boss," Tony replied angrily.

Gibbs moved a little closer to him as he asked, "I promised you that I would always have your six. Why wouldn't I come?"

Tony suddenly took a swing at Gibbs, the force of the punch causing the senior agent to fall hard to the ground, and then stated, "I don't get it, Gibbs. Why do you two care so much about what happens to me? I'm no good to you anymore and you know it, so I suggest you get the hell out of here or I'll do more than knock you off your feet. Trust me, I'm not worth it!"

"You're wrong," Gibbs answered genuinely as he slowly got back to his feet. "You're the best agent I've ever had the privilege of working with. You're also our friend and I know that you won't do anything to hurt me or McGee."

"Oh really; you mean like I didn't do anything to hurt Vera?" Tony continued. "Do you have any idea what she thinks of me? I'm an accident waiting to happen; bad luck. She was afraid to work with me and she had every right to be! She ended up getting hurt if you recall! And what about Kate or Ziva?"

McGee moved to stand beside Gibbs as he calmly responded, "Vera was hurt because a criminal tried to run and she just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Gibbs added, "Tim's right. That wasn't your fault, nor was everything that happened with Ziva leaving and not before when she blamed you for what happened with Michael. I'm not sure why you feel guilty for anything involving Kate, but you did nothing wrong in regards to her either. Come back to us, Tony. Please, let us help you."

"Just get away from me and leave me alone!" Tony cried out painfully as he turned away from his friends. "I can't…"

Before Tony could get out the rest of his plea, he stopped short when he saw one of the men responsible for doing this to him raise a gun from a distance and aim it toward Gibbs and McGee. Before they knew what was happening, as their backs were to the man, Tony suddenly ran forward and threw himself over them, causing them all to fall hard to the ground, as three shots were fired before the man was finally taken down by Agent Fornell.


	12. Chapter 12

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Chapter Twelve

Tony's dead weight landed roughly on top of both Gibbs and McGee as soon as the shots were fired, then Gibbs swiftly pulled out his gun and aimed toward where he knew that the shots had come from as he moved out from underneath Tony, who was now unconscious, but the older agent saw that the man who fired the rounds had already been taken out thanks to Fornell arriving before the man could fire again.

McGee's first instinct was to help his partner and though he wouldn't openly admit it most days, his best friend, and once he struggled to move out from under him, Tim gently pulled Tony over onto his back and that's when he saw blood blossoming out from a wound in his lower left side and found that there was another wound as well, the bullet having entered through his back and lodging itself into his upper right shoulder, dangerously close to his neck.

"We've got to get Tony to a hospital quick, boss!" Tim cried out as he quickly placed his hands firmly over the wound in his side, while Gibbs did the same for the other wound and Tobias called for an ambulance.

"DiNozzo! Tony!" the senior agent shouted as he fought to wake his friend from unconsciousness, though to no avail. "Come on! You've survived tougher messes than this."

After making sure that the shooter was dead, Fornell searched the man for identity, then walked over and knelt down nearby as he spoke up saying, "An ambulance is on its way, but it'll take longer for them to get here because we're way down underground. What the hell happened here, Jethro?"

Gibbs stared at the prone form of his friend as he softly answered, "What happened is that I screwed up."

"We all did," McGee responded, knowing exactly what his boss was thinking and feeling in that moment as he struggled with the numerous emotions that were flooding through him in that moment as he stared down at Tony.

"I hope you explain more in depth later, once we know he's going to be all right, but until then, it looks like our scumbag over there's name is Victor Marsters," the FBI agent replied. "I'll bet Abby will be able to dig up all sorts of grime on him."

McGee looked over at the dead man's body as he answered, "She better be able to dig up a whole lot more than just that. There are a number of monsters down here that need to answer for this mess. We'd be the ones dead if Tony didn't jump in the way of those shots."

It was then that Dr. Woolsey moved into the center of the arena, as the only one involved with this who wasn't handcuffed or being dealt with by another cop, and was shocked when he noticed the body and the unconscious form of the champion, but he snapped out of his shock a few moments later when he looked down at the man he once knew as Connor Bacic, then rushed over and pushed himself in between McGee and Tony as he said, "I can help your friend until the paramedics arrive if you'll let me."

"Do whatever you have to do," Gibbs finally spoke up again. "Just keep him alive."

"I'm mostly a psychiatrist, but that wasn't what I initially wanted," Woolsey responded as he quickly looked down at his side and then began to look over what he found was the more serious wound near Tony's neck. "You should know, I was a doctor first until my license was taken away for malpractice, even though later on it was discovered that I was innocent of the charges brought up against me."

Gibbs replied, "I don't care so long as you help him."

Within forty-five minutes, the paramedics had finally arrived and took over taking care of Tony, while Gibbs and McGee stood back and observed their work, then proceeded to finish helping the other agents and officers round up the remaining criminals while the paramedics carried DiNozzo back out to the surface on a stretcher. Dr. Robert Woolsey was the last one to be handcuffed and was about to be put into a police car when Gibbs walked back over to him, then told the officers that he would take over for them.

Then Gibbs looked directly at the man as he acknowledged, "If you hadn't have come down when you had, our friend would have died down there in that hellhole. He still might, but at least his chances are better, thanks to you. You allowed yourself to become involved in the fight club, which still makes you a criminal, but you helped us out when you didn't have to. That's a step in the right direction. If you continue to give us everything we need to make sure that your partner and everyone else involved pay for what they've done, then we'll make sure that you get a fair deal."

"Thank you," Dr. Woolsey answered. "I get the sense that helping out a criminal isn't something you do often, so coming from you, that means a lot. I realize that Connor, or Agent DiNozzo, came here undercover, so the things that he said were not necessarily true, but I got the sense that the feelings he eventually brought across were. He's hurting and he has no idea how to share it with anyone."

"You're right," Gibbs responded. "I should have seen it. Thank you, doc."

Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy all met up with them at the hospital a short time after Tony was wheeled into the emergency room and several hours passed, mostly in silence while they waited fearfully for any news on their friend. Abby cried openly as Gibbs and Ducky took turns trying to comfort her, but the worst moment during their wait was when Tony's father walked in with Director Vance and Gibbs and McGee began to explain what they knew about happened to his son.

McGee started, "What we know for sure is that Tony took some time off to try to help a man, whom he felt he owed, when in truth the man played on your son's guilt in order to blackmail him into doing so. We'll make sure he pays for his role in all this. As for his investigation, Tony admitted himself into a rehab center to try to locate and rescue this man's friend, which we were able to do. Later on, he was caught and shot up with drugs to make him excessively aggressive, then was forced to fight against another patient in a fight club, run by one of the center's owners and doctors, as well as a couple of backers who put up the money to begin it all.

Gibbs cut in, "They all got rich off of men and women with no family or friends to miss them, who fought each other to the death, while lots of money traded hands. We found Tony before he was hurt too badly in the fight, but he took two bullets meant for us when we busted in to take down all the men and women involved. He saved mine and McGee's life. Despite the drugs, your son was still himself. He's strong, Mr. DiNozzo. If anyone can survive this, he can."

"Gibbs is right," Abby said softly. "Tony is nothing if not resilient. If he can beat the bubonic plague, he can beat this no problem."

"I believe you, Agent Gibbs," Sr. replied sadly. "Thank you for telling me. I came here to visit with my son because I want to continue to rebuild our relationship. I plan to remain here for as long as he needs me to."

DiNozzo Sr. walked away to be alone in order to allow what he had just been told about his son to sink in as Gibbs just stared toward the ER's doors until Ducky walked over to him and asked, "Do you want to know the real reason why Anthony did all of this, alone?"

Without turning around to look at his long time friend, Gibbs answered wearily, "I know why, Duck. It's because he's finally lost what little faith in himself he had left. He's giving up and I've been too blind to see that he's been in this much pain. A part of me knew it, but I kept shrugging it off and telling him to do the same. Now he's paying for it. He went off alone because he didn't want to risk any of us getting hurt too."

"Guilt is a powerful weapon, Jethro," Ducky responded. "And Tony has been building it up ever since everything that happened between him and Ziva back during the whole Michael Rivkin affair."

"Actually, I think it goes back a whole lot further than that," Gibbs replied as he finally turned around to look at the chief medical examiner. "I just hope that I'll have the chance to finally have the talk that has been long overdue."

Ducky spoke up again saying, "If anyone can get through to him, to help save him from himself, then it will be you."

It took the rest of the night, as well as several hours into the next morning before a doctor finally walked out from the ER to inform the team of their friend's condition, which was worse than they had imagined and little of the damage done had anything to do with the two gunshot wounds, nor the multiple injuries caused by the beating he had received during his fight against Lucien.

It was the amount of drugs found in Tony's system, along with the combination of the drugs used in order to cause enough of a drastic change in Tony to the satisfaction of those who ran the fight club that troubled them more than anything. It appeared that nearly twice the amount of drugs found in Craig Lucien's system was found in Tony's system. Tony must have fought harder against the affects of the drugs for as long as he could, making it so that they had to give him much more than they had given the rest of the rehab's patients.

Over the next several weeks, Tony remained hooked up to multiple machines, on life support, while his friends and his father remained by his side as much as possible, despite the agents having to return to work. His wounds healed slowly and little by little, the color came back into his face, but Tony still had yet to waken. It wasn't spoken of out loud, but his friends each feared that the reason had more to do with him having no fight left within him than with the drugs and wounds he had received.

Finally, late one night while Gibbs was sitting with him, Tony's hand moved and then he struggled to open his eyes, but once he did wearily, the older agent reached out and took Tony's hand in his own as he said softly, "Tony, can you hear me?"

"B… Boss…" he tried to speak until he cut himself off and slowly began to panic as he struggled to become aware of his surroundings.

"It's going to be all right," Gibbs answered. "You're safe and you're going to be fine. Don't try to talk right now. There are some things that I need to tell you. We know what you did because Jason King guilted you into it and it's thanks to you that Craig Lucien is alive and well, but you also need to know that you don't owe him anything. You did a good thing, but I wish you didn't feel like you had to do it alone."

Tony looked away from him as he responded in defeat, "I'm tired."

Understanding that Tony was admitting that he had lost his will to keep fighting, Gibbs tightened his grip around Tony's hand as he replied firmly, "I know and that's on me. You've been hurting for a long time and I've been too blind to see it, but I see it now and I promise you that I'll be here to listen whenever you're ready to talk. You can't give up on us, Tony. You saved mine and McGee's life while high on dangerous drugs and that's saying something. I've never been more proud. I told your dad this a long time ago and I meant it, you're the best agent I've ever had the privilege of working with. Now get some rest. We're all here for you."

"Not everyone," Tony said softly as he slowly drifted back off to sleep.

"No, not everyone," Gibbs answered, knowing he was talking about Ziva.

Three weeks later, Tony was finally released from the hospital although he still continued to struggle with the most recent events, as well as with the emotional pain that he's felt for years. If it wasn't for his friends and his father being there for him through it all, Tony knew that he never would have made it.

That night, Tony walked into his apartment alone after his friends had gone home and his father had gone back to his hotel, as Tony had asked to finally be left alone after having someone always around him ever since he woke up in the hospital. However, as soon as he turned on the lights he found someone standing before him whom he didn't expect to see again, least of all inside his apartment; Ziva.

Ziva looked fearful and sad as she only stared at him, as Tony spoke up saying, "You're here?"

She nodded and then finally responded, "Yes, I'm here. I heard about everything. I knew that I needed to come. I'm so sorry, Tony."

"You have no reason to be," he began to reply and then proceeded to tell her what he was so afraid to say to her before. "I understand why you left. You needed to start over in order to find yourself again, but I miss you, Ziva. More than anything, I wish you were still here with us, with me. While I was being drugged at that rehab, the one thing that kept me fighting was you and I knew that you wouldn't have given in as long as there was hope. I nearly forgot that. Gibbs, McGee, and the others are here now to help me get through this, but… I love you, Ziva."

"I was hoping you did," she answered as she suddenly rushed forward and began to kiss him passionately, then relaxed within his arms. "I love you too, Tony. I'm here now and I always will be, for you. This is my home and you, Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy, are my family."

Tony smiled and then responded, "I should have known that you wouldn't be able to stay away from me forever."

The End


	13. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have written reviews for my stories! They are much appreciated. I am honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


End file.
